If you’re only interested in receiving the newest games this is the box for you; guaranteeing only the latest games! Buy New Releases Box » a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Mastrangeli, Tony (5 May 2020). "Oceans Review". Board Game Quest . Retrieved 15 November 2021. Unlike its predecessor Evolution, in which players execute their turns in shared phases, in Oceans players take individual turns to create species by assembling trait cards. [3] These creatures are released into an aquatic ecosystem where they must obtain food and avoid becoming prey to other creatures. [3] These are represented by boards that can hold nine fish (each fish is a "population token"). During the game, the creature may evolve defenses against predators, and predators may evolve tactics to circumvent those defenses. [3] Up to three trait cards can be used to evolve a species. [4] The ecosystems are represented by one reef board and an ocean board with three zones filled with fish tokens.

And it’s such an accommodating, elegant game. Take the fish tokens. They start off as food, become population once eaten, convert to points when siphoned off by ageing, and then can be spent to pay for Deep cards. A single token transforms from provisions to population to points to pounds and players barely blink an eye. It’s one of the smoothest pieces of board game design I’ve ever seen. (The fish are also coloured by player count and “roughly divided” during set-up. I wish all games were this player-friendly.) I am a mountain, I am the sea Instead of using a card to evolve, you will sometimes use a card to migrate population. The number of population tokens you migrate is equal to the migrate number on the bottom left of the card you play, next to the migrate icon. a b c Thurot, Dan (15 February 2020). "Evolving underwater: Oceans board game review". Ars Technica . Retrieved 15 November 2021. Includes 215 deluxe translucent acrylic fish tokens in 6 colors, instead of the cardboard fish tokens in the standard edition. During the second half of the game, players can use power cards from The Deep to disrupt the stability. With over 100 unique traits in The Deep, players will slowly discover game-altering traits over the course of many games. These traits were designed to evoke wonder and disbelief - to spark your imagination as you consider the fantastic synergies that are possible in Oceans.

Behind Every Smile…

This foundation loosely mimics a scientific oceanic ecosystem, similar to what you've come to expect from games in the Evolution series. This core is fully playable on its own, but there's more if you're willing to dive a bit deeper...

The odd production decisions extend to the box. For a game mostly consisting of tokens and cards it is absolutely huge, with a really odd insert. Now you might think that there is room in this insert for expansions. No doubt there will be some, but I bought the version with components for 5-6 players, with extra species boards, tokens, and screens. The tokens are fine but the screens and species boards just have nowhere to go. The rulebooks don’t even sit in the box flat. The production decisions are just baffling. Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Filter Feeder has an additional point of [Forage] and allows the species to store 5 extra population on the species board.Oceans is a game based on natural selection with fantastical leanings. As a former biologist with an interest in board games with depth and being part-seal myself, you’d think I’d be disappointed. Build yourself a thriving merchant fleet, and guide it to economic prosperity. Acquire the most modern steamships on the market and take over the precious ports from your rivals. Build an extensive network of trading posts and coal bunkers to expand the capability of your fleet. Make use of diverse options to carry out lucrative transports and win the prestigious Blue Riband of the North Atlantic. Includes custom-printed, high-quality food bags for storing your points, instead of cardboard player screens. Played in two halves, your first underwater task is to establish some aquatic beauties using Surface cards. Yes, it’s round one and time to start building those engines. Each turn in a given round, you’ll be adapting existing/adding new species to your play area. Finally, you age every species you have by transferring one fish token from each of your species into your score pile. In Oceans, fish is ultimately your scoring fodder. If your species have evolved and survived long enough to eat fish, they “age” on your turn. This means you can move a fish they have each been feeding on into your score pile. But if they can’t grow older, they go extinct!

Oceans is an engine builder where the world of science is disrupted at the seams by scientific phenomena too outlandish to be believed. Players must adapt to the changing environment with an interconnected ecosystem that can thrive in the face of the inevitable march of time, and the natural struggle of predators seeking to survive. Together these changes make Oceans a game of wonderful contradictions. Cleaner rules improve accessibility, whilst also enabling more complex fishy engines. Inter-player aggression is as present as ever but the real villain is ageing. The game’s teeth nip constantly but you always have a turn to rescue an endangered species. It’s harder, but also provides the space and tools to overcome its dangers. Instead of managing body size and population size alongside herbivorous and carnivorous diets, Oceans does away with body size entirely, makes all its animals omnivorous from the very start and combines population and food into one concept. It’s all ruled by just 4 symbols which dictate your ability to feed (from the reef, the ocean and your opponents) and defend yourself. If a species has a Reef score (green circle) of 2 then it can take 2 food from the reef area – its population has now grown by 2. Yet ‘Evolution’ was dropped from the original title, in part because Oceans nudges the series further towards speculative fiction. (The upcoming Legends of the Deep expansion pushes this even further with, among other things, a tribe of flying whales – read the Meeple Mountain review here.)Great online store for board games. They always arrive perfectly and undamaged which is important to me. Thousands of species are possible, and they all interact in their own ways as the ecosystem builds. Every game creates a one-of-a-kind world, never to be seen again. The Cambrian Explosion starts when the 1st Ocean zone becomes empty, and continues until the end of the game. Remove the Cambrian Explosion card from the 1st Ocean zone as a reminder that it will never be deactivated. If the Cambrian Explosion begins during a player’s playing cards phase, they may immediately play a second card (Surface or Deep). If it begins afterwards, they may not return to their playing cards phase to play a second card. Every card in the Deep is unique, powerful, and has a cost if you use it to evolve a species! They may be played to evolve a species or to migrate population. However, Oceans deviates from its forebears in some interesting ways, creating an experience that’s far more open, exploratory and dynamic.

Oceans depicts the boundaries between the known world near the ocean’s surface, and the mysteries lurking in Earth’s deepest unexplored regions. It’s a shame to lose those round-based reveals but the change creates stronger gameplay and in some ways it’s closer to what happens in nature – selection as a result of what is rather than speculation on what might be. Then again, it also transforms the game into turn-based evolution rather than the simultaneous selection that occurs in nature. Another contradiction. The Cambrian Explosion is a period in Earth’s history when a proliferation of new species came into existence. It took place over 500 million years ago and lasted for about 25 million years. Scientists don’t know what caused the Cambrian Explosion but it was likely due to an increase in oceanic oxygen levels.

Category Board Games Tags Card Game, Family, Golden Pear, North Star Games, Strategy SKU TCS-OCEANS Availability I went scuba diving in the Maldives years ago. And the world under the waves was like nothing I had ever seen before. The colours, the textures, the tastes….. (okay so I shouldn’t have had my mouth open, but sharks were about, and bubbles were coming in and out!). Not a massive fan of getting wet all over all at once, however, Oceans looked like it might deliver the same visual wonder. And do you know what? It does a mighty fin job! Underwater Evolution If the Cambrian Explosion has not yet started, remove 1 population from each of your species and place it behind your player screen in your score pile. If the Cambrian Explosion has started, place 2 population from each of your species into your score pile. Score all of your population if you Oceans is a 2-4 player board game in the highly acclaimed Evolution series. Oceans is an interactive engine builder, where players evolve their species in a continually changing ecosystem where everything is connected. Each time these levels of the ocean become depopulated an event card is triggered. This changes the game mechanics. Sometimes these are subtle, just making some types of cards more effective. Other times these cards can completely up-end the game, forcing faster ageing of species and changing the way you have to play. Even better the glorious Deep cards that are introduced add massive variety to the game. you can draft one each turn and playing it costs the fish which are your victory points.